Always check your plugs!

Numerous people continuously challenge Portable Appliance Testing and why we do it – these two plugs below show exactly why PAT Testing is highly important and required.

These two items were found plugged in in a Factory we tested. If our engineers hadn’t had found these, or the client decided against their PAT Testing, it could have had some serious consequences. It could have caused the Factory to burn to the ground, resulting in loss of employment and closure of the company.

You could still smell the burns and damage days after we found it – it smelt like burnt candyfloss!

You might be thinking “Wow! What caused this?!” Well! This two-way block (which aren’t even permitted into a work place, stated in the I.E.E Code of Practice) had no fuse protection. The appliance plugged into this was a heater, and was left plugged in and switched on 24/7.

When brought to the Client’s attention, they were very shocked as they weren’t aware there was an issue, assuming that it will be fine as visually on the outside, it looked safe.

Remember to not be complacent in a work place – or any place – as issues like this can burn down buildings and potentially kill. Always switch off your appliances and unplug them when they’re not in use whilst always on the look out for things like this!